With a peak audience in excess
2.8 million, UNDERBELLY: A TALE OF TWO CITIES
is Australia's most successful television program
launch ever, attracting an average 2.584 million
across the first hour.

The
second half of the two-hour premiere was just
as popular with viewers, attracting a peak of
2.71 million across the 5 City Metro and averaging
2.419 million (Total People). Including regional
Australia, UNDERBELLY: A TALE OF TWO CITIES scored
a national peak of 3.928 million and an average
of 3.494 million. UNDERBELLY: A TALE OF TWO CITIES
- based on real events from 1976-1986 - tells
the story of how two men ‘Aussie' Bob Trimbole
(Roy Billing) and ‘Kiwi' Terry Clark (Matthew
Newton) changed the face of organised crime in
Australia.

UNDERBELLY:
A TALE OF TWO CITIES continues Monday, February
16 at 8.30pm, as the young and naïve Allison
Dine (Anna Hutchison) enters the alluring and
dangerous world of Terry Clark and a cleanskin
cop is shocked to discover the extent of corruption
in the NSW police force. The mini-series is a
prequel to the 2008 mini-series Underbelly, which
was about the Melbourne gangland killings.

From
the moment the first Underbelly series enthralled,
stunned and impressed, the question of a second
series was not IF but WHEN, writes Michael Idato
of the Sydney Herald Morning News.

"Developed
in a quarter of the time as the original, Underbelly:
A Tale Of Two Cities is every ounce as brilliant.
What is more, fraught with the usual risks that
words such as "sequel" or "prequel"
entail, it succeeds against the odds."

For
online gamblers, the show could offer up opportunities
as well, points out Payton O'Brien of Gambling911.com.

"Whether
it's ratings odds or story line odds, shows of
this magnitude tend to attract attention of the
oddsmakers, especially those with keen business
interests in Australia," she says.

The
popular American cable series, The Sopranos, attracted
plenty of betting opportunities even though the
show was pretaped.

"The
first hit of the season was always a popular bet
and the producers and cast tended to do a respectable
job of keeping this information under wraps,"
O'Brien explains.